The Wind of Freedom
by newhairdontcare
Summary: Mostly Skye's thoughts. On where the path of her life is going.
1. The Wind of Freedom

She was standing on top of a cliff. Looking down, far down and watching the unruly sea spray water against rough rocks. The rocks were the only continuity in her sight. She liked that.

Her mind kept wondering. She had finished her school education now and had to decide which path would follow. She sighed. Sometimes it felt like she had to pick from just one too many options. Everything was about to change. Skye Penderwick did not enjoy change, she would rather have all aspects as steady as the rocks she was attentively watching.

The wind kept whirling through her hair and blowing it in her face. The blond strands of her that she usually tied up in a ponytail were dancing freely around. Occasionally she would rise one hand to her face and push the hair out of her face but she had to admit those actions were pointless.

Skye Penderwick thoroughly enjoyed having her freedom. She considered moving out to leave for College in a different city. Dreaming of an own room, that she could paint, furnish and keep clean with not having her sister bustling around her. She dreamed of setting her mind to something and following through with it. Skye sighed.

Having a dream. A goal. Something she would set her mind to. That was missing. No matter how hard she thought about it. She could not decide what she wanted. Jeffrey had once told her that she could do anything she set her mind to. She had agreed with him. In that moment she had not considered that it might be difficult figuring out what she wanted to set her mind to.

Now she was free. Free to decide. But did that help? What if she chose wrong?

Just one step. That was all it was going to take to ruin her life. To end her life, she added in her mind, considering the height of the cliff. She needed support, she thought. Something or someone to help her from not making a wrong step and falling off the cliff.

* * *

His alarm clock showed almost midnight but Jeffery did not see it. He was sleeping soundly.

Suddenly his dreams were interrupted by a ringing noise. He slapped his alarm, hoping it would turn off. It took him another couple seconds to figure out that it was not the source of the disturbing noise.

He opened the door, the look on his face mirroring his surprise. Skye..?, he asked.

I'm sorry, she replied. She really was. All she had thought about was herself, not even considering that it was the middle of the night and other people could be sleeping. She felt selfish.

What's going on?, Jeffery wondered, his mostly reactivated brain not finding a plausible result for this question. His hair was a mess. He was still in his PJs and he had that look on his face, worried yet a little amused. Skye smiled and instinctively hugged him.

I don't know what to do, she mumbled into the material of his pajama top. A quiet tear was running down her face.

You didn't know what to do and then drove all the way up to Boston? Jeffrey asked jokingly until he caught sight of the little tear. He paused and then added in a soft voice, we will figure it out, Skye.

She remembered the wind of freedom she was feeling earlier and how she gladly traded it for this warmth and stability. Like he said, they would figure it out.

Smiling, she hugged Jeffery even a little tighter.


	2. Growth

It was green and had very tiny leaves. There was possibly something very fascinating to think or say about the little plant but Skye could not think of anything. Maybe it should be watered soon. Would a few drops of liquid be enough? Or would you this tiny plant need a bucket of water?

Skye?, Jeffrey addressed her, Are you seriously going to wake me up in the middle of the night and not tell me what is going on?

Jeffrey. She had almost forgotten about him. Which was odd, considering she had driven a couple of hours in the middle of the night just to see him.

She wanted to tell him everything. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Her tongue did not seem to work anymore. She felt weird, somehow trapped and maybe a little frightened.

That was nonsense. This was Jeffrey. Her best friend. Why could she not talk to him?

Maybe it was because she felt a little differently about him. Not that she would ever tell him that. Sometimes, when she let her mind ponder about the fact what was different, something crazy came to her mind. Something she would never even dare to say out loud. She opened her mouth again.

"I think I like you."

What? Did she just say that out loud? Apparently so, because Jeffrey looked a little confused.

"Of course, you like me, Skye. We're best friends." He replied.

Okay. He didn't get it. That was somewhat of a relief. Still, there was this tiny piece of her that was hurt. That tiny piece screamed. It felt like a sting in her stomach.

She had been silent for a while now. And something seemed to have clicked inside of Jeffrey's brain. He inched closer to her on the sofa. And then he just looked at her. His gaze seemed to intertwine with hers. She almost slid a couple inches away from him. This was possibly too much.

She almost let out a sigh of relief when he broke the eye-contact. What he did next, surprised Skye even more. Carefully Jeffery placed his hand next to hers on the sofa. There was no touch but she could almost feel the tension between them. He let her choose.

Suddenly she knew. She took his hand and let him wrap her in his arms.

She felt invincible. And she knew this was just the start.

Here, in Jeffrey's arms she felt ready for everything. For taking opportunities, for making decisions and for so much more.


	3. Calm Waters

Heat surrounded her body like a warm blanket. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scents of mango and orange. She had not taken a bath in a while and could feel her tensed muscles relax. For a while there was no sound but her breathing against the surface of the water.

It had been an exhausting week. Finals had gotten closer and closer until they could not be avoided anymore. Behind her laid a stressful time – maybe even more stressful than choosing a field of study.

It could have been worse, she thought. How lucky she was that Jeffrey had been there. Jeffrey, had somehow handled living with her while she was irritated, stressed and most likely even a little scary. He calmed her down when she thought she would fail her finals, he made her go to bed when she had studied way past midnight and he hugged her and told her everything would be okay. And it was.

For a while her thoughts drifted even further away and she forgot she was simply in an ordinary bathroom.

That was until she heard intense barking and scratching on the door. She almost resented the moment she and Jeffrey decided to adopt Nappy. When she was a puppy, their dog was the calmest, most relaxing and most often napping dog there was. However somehow that changed drastically.

In a flowing motion Skye sat up in the bathtub and pondered on the implications her following actions would have. She could let Nappy in, which was definitely not an option. The whole bathroom would be drenched from the dog jumping in the bathtub. It was most likely her favorite place to be in the whole apartment and it would be even more inviting to her now that it was filled with water.

Skye decided to sit and wait. Jeffrey must have returned from the walk with Nappy and hopefully would serve her some dog food. That would distract her.

Waiting was not usually her strong suit so Skye was fairly pleased with herself. She was as calm as ever when she left her bathwater that had turned cold. Wrapping herself in her cozy bathrobe she almost floated outside into the living room, just to be greeted by a loving smile and a happy bark.


End file.
